Through the course of the week, several interesting stories appear that aren’t big enough to warrant their own stories. But they are big enough to go without being forgotten. They’re stories of gaming culture and miscellany, lovable little news puppies just looking for a good home. They’ll at least make you go “hmm,” and occasionally one story might really grab you and excite you.

Tidbits, in a word.

Without further adieu, I offer you our first volume of gaming news tidbits.

NASA Goes Massively Multiplayer with Astronaut
NASA is following the U.S. Army’s lead by making its own promotional online game, Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond. “Players will pick a profession like a roboticist, space geologist, astrobiologist or mechanical engineer and work together as a team as they explore space and complete missions, establishing bases and outposts and traveling to the farthest reaches of the solar system,” said Jerry Heneghan of Virtual Heroes, which has worked on America’s Army and is one of three studios contracted for Astronaut.

PAX 2009 registration is openAttendees can now sign up for the 2009 incarnation of the Penny Arcade Expo, which will take place September 2-4 in Seattle. A three-day pass will run you $50, and signing up in advance will make you eligible for the famed Omegathon multi-event gaming tournament.

Red Xbox 360 Elite on the wayAfter a few days of rumors from retailers, Microsoft New Zealand let the cat slip out of the bag: the fully-loaded Elite model of the Xbox 360 will soon arrive in a red color. The unique hue is “exclusive to EB Games” in New Zealand, but it has turned up in retail databases for non-GameStop outlets in North America and is rumored to be part of a special package for the upcoming Resident Evil 5.

Team Fortress 2 announcer treats cheaters with condescensionThe famously conceited announcer voice in Valve’s Team Fortress 2 has taken to calling out cheaters on the official Team Fortress blog, saying, “It saddens me that despite my best efforts to instruct and better you, some of you insist on finding new ways to fail.” For those who were found carrying other classes’ weapons on their persons, Valve has removed all their unlockable, upgraded weapons for one month.

The note’s conclusion, courtesy the Announcer: “To the majority of you who did not see fit to cheat, you have my congratulations: I await the countless other ways you will inevitably disappoint me in the future. Yours, TF Announcer”

In related TF2 news, a major update will arrive next week adding unlockable weapons and achievements for the Scout character as well as two new Community Maps plucked from the amateur map-making community.

Ubisoft takes the wheel for WheelmanFollowing the bankruptcy of Midway, the publisher has looked to the outside world for help getting its internally-developed, Vin Diesel-starring action title Wheelman out the door. French firm Ubisoft has stepped in and will handle sales, marketing and distribution of the game, while what’s left of Midway will retain the rights to the series. Wheelman hits store shelves March 24th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Lastly, would you buy a used car game from this man?
Bill Houlehan is president of O’Shea Limited, a company that bought up Atari’s liquidated inventory in 1990 and put it all in a warehouse leased out of what was a limestone mine. That inventory, it turns out, was roughly 3 million unopened Atari cartridges, mostly for the 2600 and 7800 consoles.

Since 1990, the Atari collectors’ market has boomed and O’Shea has done steady business in recent years. The most popular purchases, according to Houlehan, are Pole Position, Ms. Pac-Man,and Dig Dug. 2 million cartridges of the original inventory have sold.